A Time to Shrug

For Wilshire Baptist Church

It was good to be back at church on Sunday, and as expected, along with the well wishes and commiserations about having my arm in a sling, a few people asked how I injured myself. The answer is I didn’t; a bone spur tore my rotator tendon. I had surgery to remove the spur and stitch the tendon.

“Just one of the joys of getting older,” I said.

“And what caused the bone spur in your shoulder?”

“A lifetime of shrugging.”

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Signs of Better Days

For Wilshire Baptist Church

It’s an ugly season at our house — in our back yard, to be more specific. Looking out the back windows, everything is a dull shade of brownish-gray. The flowerbeds are full of the dry remains of last year’s blooms, while weeds and wild grasses that are immune to the cold are taking over. Even the pea gravel path that divides the main beds is beginning to disappear from view under a layer of creeping, mossy weeds.

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Goats and Other Mythical Creatures

For Wilshire Baptist Church

The Winter Olympics are on and the only thing flying faster and higher than the skiers and skaters is the hyperbole to describe their amazing feats.

I love the Winter Olympics, probably more than the summer games, but I do tire of some of the broadcasting daredevilry that peppers the performances. Everything is “incredible” and “amazing” and “unbelievable” and “unprecedented” and “unparalleled” all the way up to “the greatest of all time – the GOAT.”

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